Scott Wade’s  Dirty Car Art

FAQs & Bio

• Q: How did you discover Dirty Car Art? A: I lived on a long, dirt road in Central Texas for over 20 years. Since our cars were always dirty, I would often “doodle” in the dust on the rear windows of our cars. My father was a great amateur cartoonist and I must have picked that up from him, because mostly I would draw funny faces. I started experimenting with ways to get shading. At first I would use the pads of my fingers and brush very lightly to get “grey” tones. One time I was chewing on a popsicle stick, and I tried using the chewed up end as a brush. I liked the effect, so I started trying paintbrushes, and eventually developed the techniques I use today. Nowadays, I use a rubber “paint-shaper” tool and assorted brushes and of course my fingers to achieve my Dirty Car Art.
• Q: How long have you been doing Dirty car Art? A: Although I’ve been drawing in the dust on the rear windows of dirty cars as long as I can remember, I’ve been trying to take it to that next level since the summer of 2003.
• Q: What is your favorite subject matter? A: I love trying to reproduce the old masters’ paintings, but really I’m willing to try almost anything. To me it’s not so much the subject, but the beauty of the medium that attracts me.
• What is the favorite piece you’ve created? A: The next one! (I stole that from Frank Lloyd Wright, but I really do mean it)
• How long does it take you to create Dirty Car Art? A: It really depends on the complexity of the image. I’ve done pieces that took just a few minutes, and some that took over 4 hours to complete. The average time is about an hour.
• How many have you done? A: A lot! Photos of most of my work can be seen on my website, www. dirtycarart.com
• How long will Dirty Car Art last? A: It’s a bit surprising that the wind and turbulence caused by driving down the road really doesn’t affect the drawings much. But a good downpour does! Sometimes I will have to wash off an old drawing to prepare the car for the next, just depending on the weather. As a Dirty Car Art piece ages it changes, as morning dew, light rain, the addition of more dust (and even our cats skiing down the windows!) affect the image. I enjoy that process and sometimes very interesting, and wonderful things happen.
• Aren’t you sad when the rain comes and washes off your hard work? A: Not really. I may sometimes feel a little twang of regret, but really it’s great, because that means I get to do another one! The impermanence of this art form is one of the things I really love about it. For one thing, it helps me to not take it too seriously and to really have fun with it. But most important, it reminds me that all of life is impermanent, that we won’t be here all that long, and to really enjoy the wonder and beauty while we’re here.
• Q: How do you make money with Dirty Car Art? A: Mainly by doing work for advertizing campaigns and doing appearances where I demonstrate Dirty Car Art. I can create portraits of wedding couples on their get-away cars, memorialize the dearly departed and to themed pieces for any event. I’m currently represented by Curb Media in the US, UK & Europe. www.curbmedia.com
• Is that mainly how you make your living? A: I have full-time job as a Graphical User Interface Designer, although I working toward Dirty Car Art as a full-time gig.
• What is your background? A: In addition to working in various jobs, I’ve been a free-lance illustrator and graphic designer for almost 30 years, and have taken commissions for portraits, murals and sculpture. I’m also a musician, playing as a drummer in bands since I was in my teens, and have composed and performed music for theater.  I’ve been married for 16 years to my wonderful librarian wife, Robin, and we have a beautiful, talented daughter.
• When you do appearances, do you have to find a dirty road in the area? A: Although I really love a “natural canvas,” sometimes it just isn’t practical to find a dirt road and drive around for days collecting dust. It takes about a week and a half to build up a proper “canvas.” If you try to do it in a single day, the dirt just falls off the window. There’s something about the passing of time that’s required for a window to build up the right kind of layers. So I’ve figured out a way to apply dust to the rear windows of cars to simulate the effect of a car that’s been out on the back roads for days. I can prepare a vehicle in about 10 minutes.
• What kind of responses do you get when you drive your cars in public with art on the back? A: Almost everywhere we go, my wife and I get folks gathering around our cars to take pictures and ask questions. Robin once stopped at a stoplight and the folks in the car behind her jumped out to take pictures with their camera phones. One time a guy in a pickup truck blocked me in as I was leaving the grocery store parking lot. He apologized, but asked me to stay there while his daughter went back in the store to buy a disposable camera! People are always fascinated with impermanent art. Robin and I both enjoy answering questions and seeing the reactions.
• You’ve become rather famous; how did that happen? A: As I would finish a piece, I’d take a picture of it and send it in an email to a few friends. One of those emails found its way to John Kelso at the Austin American Statesman. He called to ask for an interview, and I said “sure.” I figured my mom would get a kick out of my being featured in one of his famously funny editorials. They put the article and a small gallery online and it just went viral. Pretty soon, my work was being featured on blogs all over the world.
• Did that surprise you? A: Oh yeah, I mean, who would have thought people wanted to look at dirty pictures on the internet?
• What’s next for Dirty Car Art? A: I’m just waiting for Land Rover to call me about their next Super Bowl commercial! Seriously, the fine folks at Curb Media and I have a lot of ideas about how this new art form might be used, and are exploring all manner of applications for this unique art form. Stay tuned!

Biography

Scott Wade was born in 1959, the son of a U.S. Air Force officer and housewife. He spent most of his childhood at the Air Force Academy near Colorado Springs, Co., where his father taught history and later became the faculty executive. While in Colorado, Scott received lessons in art, piano and drums, and played drums in band starting in 5^th grade. His father was an amateur cartoonist and would make coloring books for the neighborhood kids at Christmas-time. Scott loved to draw from an early age and by the third grade he was drawing attention from his grade-school principal, who hung several of his drawings in her office.

Music and art always held great interest for Scott, and he continued to draw and play in the band when he moved to Texas in 1973. In high school, Scott won several honors for his drumming, and was awarded the John Philip Sousa Band Award.  He was also active in Boy Scouts, eventually becoming an Eagle Scout, largely through incessant prompting from his father, and continued in Scouting for a short time, teaching Troop Leadership Development.

Beginning in the fall of 1977, Scott attended (then Southwest) Texas State University on a partial music scholarship. Finally deciding he didn’t want to be a band director and wanting to explore individual creativity, in his second year he changed majors to art. He graduated in 1982 with a BFA in Commercial Art and spent the next decade playing in various local bands, working part-time jobs, creating graphics for various clients, composing and performing music in the university theatre department, and generally exploring his creativity. Scott spent 6 months as a mental health worker at the Austin State Hospital, and eventually landed a job as an Arts & Crafts Instructor at a Job Corps Center in his home town of San Marcos, Texas. By this time Scott had overcome his fear of getting sucked into the virtual world of computer graphics and taught himself Photoshop and Illustrator.   After leaving the Job Corps, Scott launched into a free-lance career as an illustrator and graphic designer. Free-lancing appealed to his sense of freedom, but Scott found it difficult to run the business side of things effectively. Luckily, his wife Robin had a good job at the public library, and when their daughter came along, Scott had the great fortune to be the stay-at-home dad for her first four years.

Eventually the desire to make a better living for the family took its toll, and Scott found regular employment at a sign company designing signs, banners and decals. Soon an opportunity came along to try his hand in the corporate world, and he took a job designing graphical user interfaces, where he has worked for 10 years. During this time, he discovered and developed his “Dirty Car Art,” which has brought him world-wide recognition. In 2007 he moved from the dirt road in San Marcos to a paved road in Wimberley, Texas, where he continues to play drums with Texas musical outfits (currently working with the renowned Texas accordion great, Ponty Bone), and designs and paints scenery for the Wimberley Players. Scott continually seeks opportunities to bring Dirty Car Art to the world.